Load bearing assemblies may be used in a number of applications, such as walkways, catwalks, flooring (e.g., temporary aircraft runways), shelving, and interior and/or exterior walls of containers and dwellings. In many applications, the components (e.g., the individual panels and supports) of a load bearing assembly are fabricated at one location, and then transported to a distant point of use where they are later assembled. Alternatively, fabrication and assembly of the individual panels and supports may be conducted at the same location, followed by shipping the final assembled load bearing article to a distant point of use and optionally further assembly.
As transportation of either the individual components or the assembled load bearing assembly to a point of use and/or further assembly is typically required, reducing the weight of the individual components and/or the load bearing assembly is generally desirable for purposes of reducing shipping related fuel costs. Weight reduction is also desirable for purposes of improving the ease of handling the individual components, and the final assembled load bearing assembly.
Weight reduction may be achieved by fabricating individual components from plastic, rather than heavier materials, such as wood and metals. The individual plastic components, and in particular assemblies thereof, typically must, however, possess physical properties, such as strength and load bearing properties (e.g., static and non-static load bearing properties), that are at least equivalent to those of the original components (e.g., metal panels and metal supports). Molded plastic load bearing assemblies are typically prone to failure at the points where the panels themselves and/or the panels and the supports are joined together. Failure typically occurs when the plastic load bearing assemblies are subjected to loads, and in particular non-static loads, such as oscillating loads. To improve physical properties and to reduce the occurrence of load related joint failures, the individual molded plastic panels of the load bearing assembly are typically fabricated so as to weigh at least as much as the original panels (e.g., metal panels) they were designed to replace. To further improve physical properties, the molded plastic load bearing assemblies typically include a redundancy of fasteners, such as screws and/or bolts, at the points where the panels alone and/or the panels and the supports are joined together.
It would be desirable to develop molded plastic load bearing assemblies that have reduced weight relative to equivalent load bearing assemblies fabricated from heavier materials, such as metals. It would be further desirable that such newly developed molded plastic load bearing assemblies also possess physical properties, such as static and non-static load bearing properties, that are at least equivalent to those of equivalent load bearing assemblies fabricated from heavier materials, such as metals. Still further, it would be desirable that such newly developed molded plastic load bearing assemblies be easily and efficiently assembled.